Apparatus



Sept. 22, 1925. 1,554,583

V S. LAKE APPARATUS FOR MOLDING CONCRETE Filed May' 6. 1924 latentedSept. 22,;192'5. v

UNITED. STATES PATENT OFFICE.-

smon mxzjor umronn, comncrxcu'r.

1 arranuus 1 a momma concurs.

. Application filed lay 8,

To all whom it may concern: 7

Be it known that I, SIMON L AK11,a citizen of the United States,residing at Milford, in the county of New Haven and State ofConnecticut, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement inApparatus for Molding Concrete, of which the following is a full, clear,and exact description.

The object of this invention is to increase the effective capacity of aconcrete molding plant without lncreasing the ground space occupied.

Under the present practice of concrete slabs and the like for bui dinposes, especially where the slabs are 0 large sizes such as are used forwalls, floors and purroofs, the slabs are cast or molded flat upon theground and must remain in that position until they have acquiredsufficient set to permit their removal without injury. Obviously, thisis a time and s ace consuming operation and requires a arge area toafford anything in the, nature of quantity production.

The casting or molding of slabs in accordance with my invention permitssuccessive superposition of the slabsas they are molded, thus multiplyinthe effective capacity of a iven area 0 available ground and henceincreasing production without increasing plant.

he invention consists in an apparatus for molding concrete, comprisingessentially one or more, preferably two, beds or platforms upon whichconcrete slabs or the like may be cast in superposition, meansassociated with said platforms or beds and including a curtain ada tedto be interposed between a cast slab an one to be cast, means foradjusting saidcurtain vertically with respect to said beds or platforms,and means for withdrawing the curtain from between superposed slabs, asI will proceed now to explaln and finally claim.

In the accompanyin drawin s illustrating the invention, in t e severa fires of which like parts are similarly des1gnated, Figure 1 is a sideView of my apparatus. Fig. 2 is a plan view of same.

The apparatus comprises casting beds or platforms 1 and'2 and betweenthe beds is arranged a roller 3 upon which is wound a. curtain 4preferably of thin sheet steel. This roller is carried by a shaft 5mounted in bearing blocks 6 arranged for vertical sliding adjustmentupon guides 7 and adapted producing I 1024. Serial No. 711,419.

to be raised and lowered by screws 8 provided with hand wheels 9 bywhich they may be rotated. One end of the shaft 5 carries a worm wheel10 meshed by a worm 11 rovided with an operating. crank 12, and by thisgearing, or its operative equivalent, the curtain may be wound upon orunwound from its roller 3.

The beds or platforms 1 and 2 are preferably made hollow and may beheated by steam or other-suitable heating fluid introduced into andexhausted from them by means of pipe connections 13 and 14.

When cored slabs are to be formed, steam or the like heated cores 15 maybe used (Fig. 2). These cores may be, and referably are of the formshown and descri ed in my 00- ending) application, Serial N 0. 409,370,filed eptem or 10, 1920.

The operation of the device is as follows :Assuming that a slab 17 is tobe cast upon the bed 1, the steel curtain is unwound from roller 3sufliciently to stretch completeframework or elements, if same are used,are

properly positioned, and the cores are put in place. Then suitable formsare arranged at the ends of the cores and between the forms 16 and themold thus formed is filled to the required amount and tamped andscreeded. Steam or other heating fluid is then introduced into the bedand the cores and the drying of the thus formed slab hastened to theoint at which the concrete attains its initial set. The curtain may nowbe withdrawn, Without injury to the slab, by operating the gearing10-11. The slab hav ing attained sufiicient hardness due to the settingof the concrete to bear considerable weight without injury, the roller 3is raised by operation of thescrews 8 until it is at such a height thatthe curtain 4 will lie flat upon the top of the slab just formed, andthe curtain is stretched over the slab and resting upon it. The curtainis now again be repeated to orm a number of superposed slabs, the numberof same being determined b the height to which the curtain may. beelevated in its guides 7.

By providing two beds. 1 and 2 and a smle curtain 4, this curtain may dodouble duty in service on both beds, the casting operation beingalternated between the two so that While a finished slab is being driedon one bed a fresh slab may be cast upon the other, thus doubling theoutput and avoiding dela s in casting.

hen the full complement of slabs has been cast upon each bed, each pileof slabs and its supporting bed may be covered with a tarpauhn, theheating of the beds and cores continued, and steam or moist warm air.introduced beneath the covering tarpaulin to complete the drying andcuring of the slabs.

Obviously, if cored slabs are not to be formed, the whole form for themold may be set up before, any concrete is poured, but I prefer to usethe cores, not only because I thereby produce a better type of slab thanthe solid slab, but because 1; e heating of the concrete by means of thecores materially assists in attaining the desired setting of theconcrete and thereby accelerates the process of casting and increasesproduction.

In order that the curtain mechanism may not be idle when the fullcomplement of slabs has been cast upon each bed, I may mount the bedsupon rollers or wheels so that they may be removed and empty bedssubstituted for them, and casting resumed. Various other modificationsand changes in the apparatus are contemplated as within the spirit ofthe invention and the scope of the following claims. What I claim is 1.In an apparatus for molding concrete,

a bed upon which concrete articles are to be cast in superposition, aseparating curtain arranged for interposition between a cast article andan article to be cast in superposition thereon, and means for subjectingthe superposed articles to the influence of heat, for the purposespecified.

2. In an apparatus for molding concrete, a molding bed, a curtainadapted to be stretched over said bed and to receive the concrete toform an article, and means for withdrawing said curtain from beneath thefinished article.

3. In an apparatus formoldingconcrete, a molding bed, a curtain adaptedto be stretch over an article a ing said bed, and means for withdrawingszlud curtain from beneath the finished artic e.

4. In an ap aratus for molding concrete, a molding bed u on whichconcrete articles are adapted to cast in superposition, a curtainadapted to be stretched over said bed and upon which concrete isdeposited to form an article means for withdrawing said curtain fromneath the finished article, andmeans for raising and lowering saidcurtain whereby it Ina; be positioned to read cast.

5. In an apparatus for mo ding concrete,

a pair of simllar beds, a curtain arranged between the same and adaptedfor cooperationwith each. alternately and upon which concrete isdeposited to form an article, and means for withdrawin said curtain frombeneath the finished article.

6. In an apparatus for molding concrete, :1. pair of similar beds uponwhich concrete articles are to be cast alternately in superposition, acurtain arranged between said beds and adapted for cooperation with eachalternately and upon which concrete is deposited to form the articles,means for withdrawing said curtain from beneath the finished articles,and means for raising arid lowering said curtain for the purpose ofinterposing it between a cast article and an art cle to be cast ,insuperposition upon it.

7. In an apparatus for molding concrete,

a molding bed, a flexible metallic curtain adapted to be stretched oversaid bed and to recewe concrete to form an article, and means forwithdrawing said curtain from beneath the finished artlcle. I

8. In an apparatus for molding concrete, a molding bed upon whicharticles are to be cast in superposition, a flexible metallic curtainadapted to span said bed and to receive concrete to form an article,means for withdrawing said curtain from beneath the finished article,and means for raising and lowerin said curtainfor the purpose ofpositionlng it upon an article already cast to receive concrete forcasting an article superposed thereon.

9. In an apparatus for molding concrete, a bed upon'which concretearticles are to be cast in superposition, a separating curtain arrangedfor interposition between a cast article and an article to be cast insuperposition thereon, and means including heated cores for subjectinthe superposed articles to the influence 0 heat, for the purposespecified.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set myhand this 5th day of May, A.D. 1924:.

SIMON LAKE.

